Westpac did not fail on its latest half-year net profit forecast as it rose to $3 billion but still worries over the effects of the global financial crisis that will continue over the years.

Gail Kelly, Westpac's chief executive, explained that the bank's result is a sure way of assessing that the Australian economy is vastly improving.

Ms. Kelly said she is also pleased with the bank's interim result for 2010.

"It reflects a much improved Australian economy and good momentum across all our businesses," she said.

Still, she warned that everyone must continue to be cautious as Europe still demonstrates the fragile nature of the recovery in some areas.

She also noted that some European countries gained control over the Australian home loan market over the past year, as it holds more than a quarter of the total market.

"Over the past 12 months, in meeting customer needs, and as a direct result of our decision to remain open for business, we grew our Australian home lending balances by $43 billion and our Australian market share in this strategically important segment by 2 percentage points to 27 per cent."

"This step up in market share includes providing over 355,000 new mortgages," she adds.

The bank admits it has the highest standard variable mortgage rate among four major banks at 7.51 per cent per annum, after the release of this month's official interest rate rise.

Westpac will settle an interim dividend of 65 cents.